Kingdom Hearts: Hunter's Light
by Spartan036
Summary: While Sora and Riku are on their mark of mastery, another wielder rises. A wielder from a world rising from the ashes into an era of uncertainty after his death and when a threat arises in the Dreaming City, it is up to him to stop it or die trying. This is his destiny. This is the story of Ace.
1. The Kid

_**Ace's Journal final entry (?)**_

 _Dad,_

 _I don't why I was chosen by this...thing. I thought I knew who I was, an ordinary hunter who has no idea who his parents were. Yet the closest thing was there underneath my nose, I miss you dad and I'm very scared right now. But I know what you would as always: We're hunters, fear is our thrill and the gun helps with it. And in this situation, the keyblade helps. So no matter what...always have a smile on your face. I will Dad. I will._

 _Your son Ace._

* * *

Eleusinia, present day.

A lone hunter walks in the ruins of the corrupted halls of the throne world that belongs to Mara Sov armed with an _Origin Story_ auto rifle in her arms and a _Izanagi's Burden_ sniper rifle on her back as she checks the corners of the halls and passes by the statue of Sjur Eido with the missing bow on it because she passed that trial just recently. But it was not the time to travel down memory lane, this was personal and all of their sacrifices and buildup led to this. Her armor is the _Frumious_ armor set with a custom black and purple shader as she continues aiming her weapon while another hunter is up on a pillar armed with a _Hawkmoon_ hand-cannon in his hand then jumps while using his knife to slide down and join her. He holsters the strange sword behind his back while landing in front of her, the sword resembles a sword with teeth on its side and is colored tan and blue and resembles a key.

His armor mainly consists of a _Kairos Function mask_ on his head and _Wing Contender_ chest armor alongside a _Vanguard Dare_ boots on his legs with the gauntlets being _Prodigal Grips_ with the _Bumblebee_ shader on all of them. On his back is the _Vanguard Dare_ cloak with the symbol covered by the keyblade. They hear the sound of armor crunching on the ground causing both to turn around to see a woman wearing violet armor resembling that of a female knight with the helmet having a dome visor and backwards fins on the sides. She too is armed with the same weapon the male hunter is wielding as well like the male hunter but hers looks elegant and is colored like her armor. The male hunter nods at her while looking around...

They hear footsteps causing the three of them to turn around with the female hunter aiming her rifle at whatever is making the sound and see a woman with faded blue hair and dark skin with yellow eyes walking towards them armed with the same strange sword but different. Her outfit is a black high collared high top, a black corset with two black straps intersecting her chest. Her gloves are colored black with the finger tips being red and her sleeves as well alongside black stockings reaching halfway on her thighs leaving little skin with torn cloths on her hips. The male hunter nods to the female hunter causing her to start firing the weapon right away while he dashes towards her with the female wielder next to him doing the same but holds it it like a normal sword while the female one has it aimed backwards on her hand by reversing the grip. The dark woman blocks the shots with her weapon while the male hunter throws a skip grenade at her causing it to burst with the rounds swarming her but she quickly backs away while emitting some kind of wave that freezes the explosives in their place with frost causing them to shatter into pieces as he swings left and right at the woman who is dodging his attacks as the armored makes it in time to bounce off a pillar and raises her sword towards her but the blue haired menace raises her sword to block the strike causing her to throw her over.

The male hunter comes at her again but she pulls out a familiar looking hand-cannon colored white and black with a spade on the barrel and fires at him which hits the incoming attack but only takes a little bit of his shield down causing him to yell in fury instead but she blocks it next with a taunting smile on her face and shoots his helmet next which breaks a part of the visor off. His other half is covered by a shadow as he prepares to strike again as the female hunter continues giving sniper support with her gun from a distance as she begins running. The violet armored woman gets up and reaches her hand out as a swarm of what appears to be the same weapons the male hunter and her are using rises up with the huntress getting on one of them and starts firing again as the woman turns and begins running in annoyance with all the shots blocking every single one of them as the armored woman gets up with her weapon in hand as it begins to charge up in a mysterious violet light as the male hunter catches up as his key-like weapon charges the same with a fiery glow to it from behind but she ducks immediately and attempts to slice him in half but he dodges the incoming strike and attempts to hit her in the back. The woman rolls forward then turns around at them in fury as the female armored woman readies her blade alongside the male hunter while the female hunter floats behind them switching to her sniper rifle and takes aim.

She simply smirks and jumps in the air while summoning a strange flying craft causing the female hunter to fire at her but she activates her armor which blocks the bullets. The woman speeds towards the female hunter but the male rises up and attempts to knock her back but she rams through him and grabs her by the throat as the violet armored woman fires a lightning bolt from her weapon at her. The female hunter struggles as the woman holds by her throat then reaches the top of the throne with the two looking up from below, she smiles as if she's taunting them and crushes her head then freezing her body much to their shock then drops her. The male hunter runs towards his falling companion with pieces of her armor falling off then hits the ground while sliding but he catches her. Her helmet has been torn up revealing her face, she has black hair with purple highlights and blue eyes. The male hunter hangs his exposed eye in sorrow then looks up at the woman above while the ground near him shakes to see the violet armored woman rising with lightning strikes hitting her but she still persists. It stops with her armor wrecked and leaves her mouth exposed as she runs towards the blue haired woman and slashes at her with full force but to no avail as she charges her weapon again then slams it against hers giving off a purple colored shock wave which pushes the two back. The woman remains standing unscathed while the violet one's helmet falls apart revealing her face...

Mara Sov, Queen Of The Awoken, the woman in front of Mara smirks again but what she doesn't know is that there is a ship rising behind her. It's the male hunter who is hanging on and stopping behind the woman who turns around as he takes aim with his finger hesitating on the trigger. The sky opens above them revealing a glowing heart shaped object as the woman stands still in between them.

A gunshot is heard.

* * *

One Week Prior...

The male hunter wakes up on the ground that is strangely colored causing him to get up and look around his surroundings revealing it to be some kind of stained glass window-like platform surrounded by the people he cares about and wielding a strange sword. He notices that his helmet is gone revealing his face and hair to be golden blonde and semi short with some dirt on his face causing him to look around for a moment while upholstering his hand cannon and squints. The hunter hears a voice from somewhere but he can't point it out.

"So much to do...so little time...Take your time. Don't be afraid. The door is still shut." The voice spoke causing his twitch reflexes to kick in and quickly moves around while aiming his gun in one hand. He grits his teeth and hears the ground churning then turns around and sees stone platforms rising with weapons appearing on them as the first is a shield, second is a sword, and third is a wand causing him to tilt his head slightly and lowering his gun.

"Power sleeps within you...if you give it form...It will give you strength." It spoke causing the young hunter to walk towards one of them which is the sword and smirks seeing that it's his first choice then grabs it while checking it out. If his ghost was here then he can see if this is an exotic or legendary but the design overall screams exotic regardless, he's never seen this sword at all either. The emblem on the hilt resembles a mouse causing him to raise an eyebrow at it then rests the blade on his hand.

"The power of a warrior. Invincible courage. A sword of terrible destruction." The voice observed the sword on his hand as the hunter holsters it on his back. It soon vanishes from his back much to his irritation and surprise then turns around at the other platforms carrying the wand and shield which he has no interest in whatsoever. These things would probably be priceless in the market though but alas, they'd probably be cheap so its best to sell them to a Cryptarch.

"Now what will you give up in exchange?" The blonde hunter places his thumbs on his finger for a moment then walks over to the wand and picks it up. He notices that it looks more like a toy rather than a normal looking weapon which is logical to give it up in exchange for the shield. The hunter hears the voice again making him wonder if this dream is from an Ahamkara of some kind or bad spicy ramen he had recently. He'd like to compare it to an acid trip gone horribly wrong but he isn't seeing bad stuff yet.

"The power of the mystic. Inner strength. A staff of wonder and ruin. You give up this power?" He nods at the voice causing the wand to disappear into light catching him off guard in the process as the pieces float up into the air making him sad that he couldn't sell it for glimmer. But whatever floats this things boat yet it would've been priceless, he might end up as a laughing stock though if he picked it up.

"You have chosen the power of the warrior. You've given up the power of the mystic. Is this the form you choose?" The hunter nods in agreement again seeing that he's more of a rogue type and doesn't really comprehend magic like his friend at all. It's not like he's stupid, he just sees red flags on why you shouldn't wield stuff like that when there are warlocks out there. Plus he's a hunter and the magic should be with warlocks and warlocks only...but then there is Eris Morn though yet he doesn't see himself as a magic wielder. The platform begins to collapse alongside the stained glass-like window floors beneath him shatters into pieces causing him to scream but his voice is silenced.

The next platform appears revealing a stained glass floor but he can make it out a shape to be a female hunter in _frumious_ hunter armor with black hair that has purple highlights with her eyes closed as if she was resting and armed with a weapon like he had on the stained glass platform only that her glass colored is light purple instead. He uses his boost jump to break the fall and lands safely on the ground as the sword appears on his right hand hand as if it spawned from light. The male hunter knows this huntress, her name is Layla.

"You've gained the power to fight." The hunter looks at the sword and unholsters his gun revealing it to be a black and white revolver-like gun with a large barrel that has an spade on on it then uses his left to pick it up. He walks forward while aiming down the gun for a moment to check the perimeter then notices something on the ground rising up, a black shadowy figure of some kind with another by its side. The two rise to reveal two almost deformed monsters that remind him of the Taken except their heads are round with a twisted antennae on them with glowing yellow eyes and sharp claws alongside large feet.

"There will be times where you have to fight. Keep your light burning strong." He aims his gun at the one in front of him and fires which hits the creature in the head thus killing it while the other lunges towards him but the hunter quickly slices it in half. More begin to spawn causing him to twirl the gun then fires it at another which wounds it in the process right before throwing a knife at it causing the creature to explode. Another jumps towards him but he runs towards it and slides then raises the sword thus slicing it in half throws an incendiary grenade that explodes in the process and sends a creature flying towards him as he moves out of the way and it hits another creature instead. The hunter stabs both of them like a shishkebab ruthlessly like they were nothing but what he doesn't notice is that the floor is turning black but he looks down and sees whats happening.

The hunter attempts to move but his foot is stuck on the ground which causes him sink into it much to his panic as the black mass consumes his body completely and his world becomes darkness. He continues to panic but his vision becomes clear and sees that the floor is another stained glass portrait of what appears to be Mara Sov but unlike the others who are resting, Mara is front and center aiming her strange weapon down surrounded by portraits of Uldren Sov, Petra Venj, Sjur Eido, and an unknown man with black hair and a ponytail alongside a goatee. There is a door in front of him and he opens it revealing a lab of some kind...he looks around for a moment but the door shuts behind him causing him to turn around then look back. He hears the ground rumbling for a moment causing him to head upstairs...and sees a giant mass approaching him as he finds himself in Venus. The hunter is soon overwhelmed by fear but something passes by him, it's a blue haired woman about his age then turns around and utters a phrase.

"Everyone is waiting their birth by sleep..." Soon the hunter is engulfed by the black mass.

* * *

The hunter opens his eyes slowly and sees the blue sky while hearing the sounds of the PA calling specific people or ships flying off into the distance. He gets up showing the solid ground of the tower for a moment and yawns in exhaustion then lays on his back seeing the female hunter from his dream causing him to scream briefly and rise up. He really hates it when Layla does that but at least it helps a surge of energy in his body to keep pumping due to the sudden shock.

"Whoa!" He screamed as the female one smirks seeing him like this. She knows that he's always had a habit of sleeping in the afternoon at three after a morning of doing normal guardian stuff like going to the Crucible then dozes off while watching the sky probably on top of the Eververse shop. Being a guardian can be tedious and tiring after all, especially with whats going on in the Dreaming City and how the two had to endure running around doing the Ascendant challenges in that creepy world. Don't even mention the forges Ada goes on about as well.

"Ace you lazy bum." The huntress smiled causing Ace to get up slowly, despite guardians never needing sleep, Ace always found sleeping relaxing rather than staying up all day sitting a ship waiting for something to happen or constantly fighting. He needs some relax and relaxation after all in these times of doubt after Cayde's death since the hunters are without a leader now and who knows who Cayde chose for the Vanguard dare with rumors circulating around that it's Marcus Ren or Shin Malphur to which Layla hopes it'll be Shin, she has nothing against Ren but Shin is more worthy but there's more rumors that he's gone off the grid hunting down rogue guardians.

"You should really stop doing that! Seriously, it ruins the point of me looking up in the sky and counting the ships before I doze off again." Ace sarcastically replied while getting up. On Layla's waist appears to be a special bounty from the Black Armory which Ace sighs knowing what Layla wants, get to a nearby forge and forge a weapon she wants. He often wonders how full is her vault right now but he's not complaining at all since he wants those weapons after all, he's a huge fan of the foundary as well. Layla pats him on the shoulder with a smirk on her face then turns to walk away.

 _ **Sunflower By Post Malone.**_

"Dude we're guardians, we don't need sleep. Sleep is for the weak." Layla replied while impersonating Patrick Star with Ace catching up to her and scratching the back of his head feeling an itch on it. That dream though...it felt real and almost like he's seen something from a strange horror movie or a fantasy game he'd play on his ship, Ace shakes his head from the thought of seeing that and wonders if he can take his mind off by joining Layla do her thing by going to the forges to forge a new weapon.

"Whatever you say so. So any plans when we're done with our daily stuff?" Ace asked.

"The usual: Sit atop the tower and eat some ice cream. Not the salt one, those give me the shits." The huntress replied causing Ace to laugh remembering that time where Layla literally had to shadow dodge her way to the bathroom nearby. It was hilarious seeing her listen to a debriefing then running off while leaving a trail of arc energy from her footprints. Layla rolls her eyes and summons her ghost, Dokkaebi, then heads to orbit as Ace does the same.

* * *

Volundr Forge, EDZ.

Ace is tossed against a wall by a Cabal Legionary due to an explosion hitting him and sending the hunter flying in the process thus making him end up here. He gets up and shoots his hand cannon known as the _Ace Of Spades_ at his head thus causing it to explode in the process. The hunter twirls the gun and holsters it as the forge ignites with energy while bursting with legendary engrams for himself and for Layla as he places his hand on her shoulder while a fellow titan looks on.

* * *

Pacifica, Titan.

"And that is why we should change our clan name from Tango Wolves to the M14 gang! I mean, we're hunters and hunters love scout rifles plus the M14 is a scout rifle!" Layla explained her plan while taking cover behind a wall armed with a _Ringing Nail_ auto-rifle as Ace is laughing uncontrollably near their clan leader. Suddenly, a skip grenade is thrown at them causing Ace's eyes to widen.

"Oh shit! Move!" Ace yelled while pushing Layla as the tracker rounds surround Ace thus killing him until his ghost, Weiss, revives him again causing him to get up with a smirk on his face then pulls out his gun again and starts shooting at the guardian that did it. The match ends showing that they've lost but Ace and Layla get powerful gears in the form of a _Subtle Calamity_ bow for her and a _Ten Paces_ hand cannon for Ace to which he infuses with his current gun.

* * *

Hellas Basin, Mars.

Ace dances to the music that's playing in his helmet while tossing a grenade without looking at a bunch of thrall coming at him as Layla lunges towards the large Hive knight and kills it with her sword causing it to shatter and die. The remaining thralls look in terror before cowering and teleporting away as a chest spawns with a still dancing Ace heading towards it and picks up an _IKELOS_SG_v1.0.1_ shotgun with Layla getting the same and kisses the gun. Ace looks at the shotgun for a moment with a small smile with some enthusiasm and sighs.

* * *

Emerald Coast, EDZ.

The male hunter runs towards the taken knight who is the primeval with his sword ready and stabs it on the side of the leg causing the knight to scream as Layla shoots it in the head thus killing it. Layla lowers her rifle, _The Long Goodbye,_ with a smirk on her face as Ace uses his sit emote and sits on the ground.

* * *

Layla walks on the edge of the hanger overlooking the Last City with Ace carrying a box of blueberry ice cream then setting it down and sits next to her. She's always loved it when they do this most of the time, it makes them feel human even though they're just resurrected corpses risen from the dead by the Traveler. It made her remember the simpler times if they still had any memories at all. Ace looks at his ice cream for a moment as Layla eats hers with his eyes showing emptiness and doubt in them.

"Next time, we should stick to the cave cause that was way too close." Layla spoke and turns to Ace who turns to her back. His eyes scream out some kind of conflict which Layla can tell, she always can tell if someone was lying cause in her previous life is that she always was lied to. Ace never knew much about his previous life, he woke up in a lab on the ground wearing his hunter attire by default given by his ghost.

"We almost lost the forge as well, I would've torn my hair out if we did that stuff again. Especially when the damn legionaries sneak up on you. For a warmongering race of killer space rhinos, they're stealthy as hell." Ace sighed in irritation as Layla takes a bite off of her ice cream which Ace finds annoying that Layla doesn't lick it but eats it. But Ace does the same as well too.

"Well they are the Red Legion and they're not your normal space rhinos too. They should be leaving right now from the solar system to that giant fish on Nessus but they still remain on earth, especially when one of their ships is grounded after what that guardian did. I've heard the Consensus is granting them a pardon so they can leave but there's rumors saying we could be amassing one last final assault against them. I hope for the second, damn murderers, I'm still reeling that we missed out an ENTIRE war and almost got grilled by Zavala for it back at the Iron Temple." Layla sighed feeling guilt that they didn't participate.

"At least we dodged a bullet back there thanks to coincidence when we decided to celebrate at the Iron Temple for the anniversary of the Battle of Six Fronts. Hikari basically saved our lives the moment she invited us to shoot off fireworks with Shiro. But still, it was pretty bad that we didn't participate in making history by retaking the city plus we couldn't get out because our ghosts could no longer trans-mat a ship for us too." Ace adds with Layla nodding.

"But at least we helped in finishing the Red War...all that's left is that Dreaming City mess after what that prince did. Did you hear rumors that he killed Cayde though? That son of a bitch..." She hissed remembering what Uldren Sov did to Cayde-6, too bad no one knows his face and the only person who saw him face to face killed him in the process. Layla notices that Ace was caught off guard then hanging his eyes in sorrow by the mention of Cayde causing her to realize what she said and the mere mention.

"Oh shit! Sorry, I didn't want to mention..."

"It's okay. I'm glad that pretty boy kicked the bucket, could care less about his sister too. He was like a dad to me you know? Cayde. Like when I first woke up and I introduced myself to him, he said if I had spare time then he'll teach me the ways of the hunter and I learned from him. I just wish...that didn't happen...that asshole." Ace sighed angrily and sadly. Layla blinks her eyes then turns them to avoid eye contact with Ace remembering how much Cayde and him got along so well, almost as if he was his son too. The blonde raises eyes in determination to her.

"Hey Layla...you think...there's more to being a guardian?" The hunter asks him causing her to tilt her head.

"Yeah of course. We slay gods and wield highly advanced weaponry, what's there to be?" Layla questioned him. Ace chuckles.

"Like is there more than just fighting and slaying gods? Is there a higher purpose than just doing that all day?" She's caught off guard by this question, Layla falls silent for a moment. This has been her life this whole time after she left her old life behind and there's nothing more she's grateful of nonetheless and here's her partner questioning everything they do. Where she's from and what she's been through, there's more out there and it's not pretty at all.

"Well guardian life is random, one day it can be doing the stuff we do then the next by chance-something else will happen. That's how we roll most of the time, maybe by chance you'll have something that no guardian can deal with. Maybe today or tomorrow...but we have to be patient." Layla spoke. Ace gives a small chuckle while looking at the sky above.

"Yeah..." Ace replied and looks blankly at the sky for a moment. He soon feels like he's being watched for some reason causing him to turn his head and sees someone watching them from a distance. It seems to resemble a warlock but the outfit is strange and doesn't match up with any warlock whatsoever at all, he sees what appears to be a man wearing a dark trench coat with a hood on his back with the face of the wearer covered by a black dome-like helmet of some kind standing by the entrance in front of Amanda. Ace nudges Layla causing her to turn at the figure.

"Is he looking at us?" Layla whispered to him. Silence falls between them for a moment as some kind of dark aura fills the air making Ace think that this is no normal guardian but Layla is skeptical though. She leans towards Ace wearily with a hint of fear thinking whoever this is, he or she is bad news as Ace can't help but feel a little scared right now as if that thing in the distance is a hunter and he's the prey.

"Maybe he's just a warlock. They tend to be creepy sometimes." Lord Shaxx walks past them as the mysterious figure disappears from their view causing their eyes to widen.

"That's not a warlock."

"I don't think he's a guardian either. Lets go!" Ace ordered as Layla nods then gets up alongside him then begins running. He opens the holster of his gun while Layla readies her scout rifle known as the _Polaris Lance_ on her hand urgently with Ace leading her to the entrance and quickly moving up the staircase to where a couple of engineers are repairing sparrows then sees him walking to the side heading to the tower lobby. Ace runs there next to see that he's gone but it's likely that he went up causing him to move there next. He arrives in the lobby as many guardians pass by him but he doesn't see the figure neither does Layla...until he spots him across near Banshee-44's shop. It moves away possibly heading downstairs with Layla and him rushing towards it but not before Layla stops and sees Zavala in the distance.

"Commander! We got an intruder! He's running off to the marketplace!" Layla yelled at Zavala who notices her causing the Awoken titan to nod. He knew the new Golden Age would bring about threats so perhaps domestic ones as well, especially with that raid back at the Black Armory. She soon follows Ace next who is ahead of her right now. Ace jumps off of the balcony leading downstairs gun in hand and runs in the tunnel leading to the market as he looks around then sees the stranger behind the side of the ramen shop but he moves again much to his frustration then continues following him. He can tell that this leads to the Annex where the Black Armory is which means whoever it is will be cut off.

Ace heads downstairs while aiming _Ace Of Spades_ which is the real gun given to him by the guardian as the other is a replica from his collection and slowly walks while checking the perimeter. Whoever this figure is, there is no way he's a guardian at all due to the amount of shadiness he/she is giving off around him/her. The hallways have some light in them which he can see but he's always found the place to be creepy as hell, even more creepy than the Hellmouth too. He feels like someone is around the corridor causing him to turn and see no one causing the hunter to lower his gun then holsters it.

"I always find you guardians and people of the city funny." A voice spoke behind him revealing it to be the figure with Ace quickly attempting to draw but it fires some kind of black fire on his hand which burns it. Ace winces in pain before his shield goes back up causing him to pull it out again with the figure laughing at him for a moment. This was strong evidence that he's no guardian at all alongside the fact his ghost is recording all of this right now.

"Thinking a giant ball in the sky will protect you. But you...I find interesting, a wielder who forgot who he is." He spoke to him as Ace gets up while covering his injured hand.

"Pal, you better start being a little clear cause the only thing I wielded is a gun or a sword. One of which would be against your head if you burn my hand." Ace growled in front of them. He's heard of guardians possessing the powers of the dark but never in this magnitude though there are examples like Toland, Eris, and Dredgen Yor yet this guy is nothing like them at all. No designation nor class, this has to be another party beyond the ones guardians have fought. He summons and aims a key-shaped weapon at his head...

"I could kill you here but the boss says you have a purpose." The helmeted strange spoke then turns around with some kind of dark portal opening which he enters. Layla and Zavala head down as they see the strange hole before it closes leaving Ace compelled at what he's seen. Zavala looks at the portal in horror before getting a glimpse of it wishing that Eris is around to explain it.

"You alright?" Layla asks him causing Ace to nod. Weiss appears before Ace and floats near his shoulder.

"So did you get any of that on camera? Cause I don't Zavala thinking I'm crazy." Ace spoke.

"Of course idiot. I wouldn't let you explain things." Weiss scoffed as Zavala stands in front of Ace as he walks off with Layla.

* * *

"In time you will be free...O wielder of mine." A voice spoke to a woman with white hair overlooking a black sea and white light.

"...Because all of the pieces are falling into place...This world "

* * *

In the Dreaming City, a door opens...with yellow eyes behind it.

* * *

"Hey Layla about that symbol on your cape. What's that all about?" Ace asks while his hand heals slowly by his light but Weiss takes snapshots of the wounds he has with his hand having black singes on it. Layla looks at her cafe while taking it off on that symbol is an upside down heart with it being extended with a sharp point on the top and a line with two points in the middle.

"It's nothing...it makes it look cool. That's all."


	2. Episode Preview: Anomaly

**Layla:** (Voice) Next on Kingdom Hearts: Hunter's Light.

 _*Scene opens to Ace and Layla arriving in the Dreaming City as Petra walks towards them armed with her scout rifle*_

 **Petra:** (Voice) We need you two to scout for an...anomaly.

 _*Cut a bird's eye view of the Dreaming City then shuts to black showing a couple of guardians running from a pack of heartless as they continue to fire at them but there is too many.*_

 **Ace:** (Voice) And how much of an anomaly is it?

 _*Cut to black then fades to reveal Ace getting up in the Realm Of Darkness and walks alongside the sand...what he doesn't know is that a woman is following him but he hears the footsteps causing him to turn around. The woman squints at Ace with her yellow eyes as his hand reaches towards his gun on the holster with the woman drawing a strange weapon from her hand.*_


	3. Anomaly

Ikora Rey checks out the footage in the debriefing room on the computer on Ace's hand as it seers with some kind of strange darkness to it on her data-pad almost resembling the wounds Eris Morn inflicted on herself when she was escaping the Hellmouth. She's seen burns before like arc, void, solar but this is different, this was...pure darkness. Zavala looks on in worry and suspicion that there could be a third party organization in the middle of this that is against the guardians. He wishes Eris would see this and get to the bottom of it but she isn't here at all making him wonder where she is at the moment.

"What's Ace's status?" He asks him knowing who Ace belongs to and also the fact that said person knows Ace wasn't ready to become the leader of the hunters. The fact Ace reminds him of...him makes the loss even worse that he didn't have enough courage to say he was his father after all despite everything he's done with him. It was a tragic loss and the only thing left of his legacy is Ace as a guardian.

"He's doing better since the wound has healed because of his light. But..." Ikora looks in worry for a moment at the footage.

"This element is nothing like we've never seen before at all. The only thing closer to it is the poisoned effect from the thorn which was wielded by Dredgen Yor years ago. Perhaps our intruder was a guardian who's gone to the darkness rather than the light." She continued catching Zavala off guard assuming the group responsible for this attack.

"You don't think this is the Shadows Of Yor's doing?" Zavala questioned knowing that they were determined to control the darkness by not letting it take over them at all. They were never mentioned nor had a resurgence whatsoever after the Red War making him wonder if they were either killed or made a come back. Although the Shadows never harmed any guardian whatsoever at all, none in fact, and Ace stated that he opened a black portal then went off somewhere which is something that the Shadows can't do.

"Unlikely. The Shadows only wield a small portion of the darkness yet this one is purely based on it alone. This is sorcery that is beyond that of a wielder of light and dark, this is from another world beyond ours similar to that of Calus and the Hive's ability only scaled to eleven." Ikora explained while looking at the burns on Ace's hand. The medical records state that Ace's light managed to heal the wound showing that there is a remedy to whatever was inflicted upon him. Zavala hangs his eyes lost in his thoughts right now...

"Zavala." Ikora called making him snap out of it causing him to look up at the warlock vanguard.

"Oh sorry, I was lost in thought. Here I thought we'd have a new Golden Age and that all our troubles were gone...but all it did was bring new ones. From Cayde's death and the curse of Riven and this...new faction, I feel the worst has yet to come right now and this is only the beginning of our troubles." Zavala sighed while Ikora nods in agreement.

"It doesn't make it better that you didn't tell Ace about him either neither did the Guardian. He said he couldn't do it at all and Amanda has been egging for one of us to tell him while she keeps threatening to tell yet doesn't." Ikora said sadly knowing Cayde told Amanda about his son due to the fact she's one of his closest friends alongside Shiro-4. She often wonders if Shiro knows about Ace as well though...

"Ace isn't ready yet. He maybe a full fledged guardian like all of us but this...a guardian's goal is look forward into the future but never in the past. If Ace finds out that Cayde-6 is his father then who knows what he'll do next because he'll have the first taste of his past, it'll be a downward slope from there and I don't want him to be the next Anastasia Bray." Zavala sadly replied seeing this as a complex situation. He has respect and admiration for Ana but he doesn't want Ace to fall out of line among the guardians.

"Perhaps. But Cayde wouldn't want this, he would want us to tell Ace on who was his father and we're only delaying the inevitable." Ikora implored to the titan who gets up from his seat to go back to his past looking at the awakened Traveler. She knows what he's going through and it's a greater pain than before.

* * *

Ace has Ana's ghost, Jinju, analyze his forearm if there's any side effects of that attack he had while Layla is out in the Crucible doing her usual things like killing guardians as he looks outside of the Bray-Tech facility of the snowy environment of Mars lost in his thoughts for a moment. The place has been empty with guardians simply arriving in the place clearing out Hive stragglers that are decreasing in numbers due to constant attacks with Red Legion moving out of the facility. Ana and Ace were always friends all this time, even covered her during her escape from the City while she was in the library.

"Say Ana, what made you find out who you once were?" Ace asks her thus grabbing Ana's attention from out of the blue yet she knows Ace is a lot like her, feeling out of place in the world which is fine but to Zavala and other guardians, it was an aberration. Yet here she is working with Rasputin under orders of the Vanguard and finding out who she once was as a renowned scientist.

"Well...I kinda felt out of place in the city despite everything. I may have had valor but something in me just didn't click at all and felt this itch inside me for some reason. It was a nagging feeling really and I answered the call to find out who I was and what my place is." Ana explained remembering her arguments with Zavala as she wanted to find out who she once was and a higher calling to it. But there was no feeling, not to Ace, it's just...a feeling to emptiness or feeling incomplete right now.

"Telling by the fact you asked me that question: You have the same feeling?" Ana asked curiously with Ace shaking his head. She knew Ace for a long time as she was the Cayde before Cayde and taught him the basics of being a hunter while the latter simply enhanced it further to the point Ace became one of the Vanguard's scouts later. Yet Ana sees herself in Ace as the rookie guardian who feels out of place with a purpose than just being one.

"Sort of...I feel like there's more out there than just being a guardian you know. I like who I am don't get me wrong, but I feel like there's something out there pulling me into something and I don't know it yet." Ace explained while Ana walks near him and places her hand on his shoulder then looks at the window.

"Maybe one day the time will come when it's time to find out who you are. Perhaps today or tomorrow." Ana assured. Ace's ghost, Weiss, spawns beside him causing the hunter to turn to her.

"Got a call from Zavala."

* * *

The same helmeted boy appears from a portal on top of a long pole-like rock formation as he looks at his surroundings to be a barren brown wasteland of some kind. A land where many died all for one weapon, a war with no victors, and a war that's about to start again once more yet he doesn't get the reasoning why the hunter is that of importance at all neither why is his boss so interested. Another cloaked figure appears next to another rock formation with his arms crossed before removing his hood revealing to be a man with silver hair and tan skin alongside yellow eyes.

"So how was your reconnaissance? What do you think of the Last City, Vanitas?" The man asks him causing Vanitas to sigh. To him, it looked like your typical world like he's been through every time only with a white ball. Yet he's intrigued by guardians who are people brought back from the dead with no memories of who they once were and using the light to destroy others, it reminds him of a pathetic old man.

"Well Xemnas, it's kind of stupid that they think a white magic ball with debris floating around it is going to protect them alongside zombies with guns. I'm impressed with their world though compared to the ones I have been in, it's more like a universe. Why's the boss so intrigued by the hunter though? He's a dimwit like all other guardians." Vanitas replied while turning his head to him.

"That white ball is a conduit of light and powers them. It is a god so don't underestimate its power. And that hunter is a walking paradox." He warned.

"A god in the form of a white ball. Hmph. What a bunch of idiots. So whens the rep from the B team arriving? They running errands like the guardians?" The helmeted boy irritably asks his superior before another dark portal appears with another hooded figure walking out of it. Her figure is a athletic with a hint of short red hair underneath her hood.

"Loxderj. We were just discussing about your group, it appears everything is in motion. Have you made the wish with that dragon?" Xemnas asks her causing her to nod. Loxderj nods in response with a small smile as more hooded figures appear on the rock formations with one of them is large and floating. Among them is a figure with the same outfit as them except glowing blue eyes shine in its dark hood.

"Very well. All we have to do...is wait."

* * *

Leona Bryl aims her binoculars at the temple on top of a mountain overlooking the _Bay Of Drowned Wishes_ and moves the tool around to see if there's anything out there. She blinks for a moment but sees a pack of Scorn running thus prompting her to pull out her sniper rifle but notices that Taken are running beside them as they open a portal from whence they came much to her curiosity as the Scorn scatter but are shot dead by guardians. The guardians which consist of two hunters and a titan look at the cave for a moment as a pair of yellow eyes. The paladin lowers her binoculars with her eyes widen and activates her comms.

"Petra, contact the vanguard! We have a situation!" Leona yelled before taking aim while giving the guardians supporting fire.

* * *

"Just this morning we intercepted a call from Petra Venj to use our scouts to investigate a disturbance in the Dreaming City. Therefore, we need you and Layla to scout in one of the Dreaming City's lost sector." Zavala spoke on the communications inside Ace's ship known as the _Alpha Umi_ colored blue with the hunter eating a burger inside it. He always loved that burger joint in the City where they would sell those double stacked bacon cheese burgers with onion rings in them alongside Layla who is in the same ship but its colored red instead due to the fact she saw a giant robot movie and based it off the villainess. The two ships hover over Earth's orbit.

"This is something else. Maybe a development in the curse after these months?" Layla asks. Months to a guardian is the equivalent to weeks but the curse on the Dreaming City is different because this wasn't a guardian victory at all, it made things worse and was a complete catastrophe compared to other guardian operations which have been successes in recent years. That and Layla is a sucker for happy endings because of all the things they went through like the death of Cayde-6 which leaves the hunters without a leader.

"Perhaps. The curse is cyclical but this was never seen at all. Maybe it can be the key to stopping it. I will need you two's expertise in scouting and find whatever is having the Queen's Wrath spooked and eliminate it if you have to then report in as usual." Zavala notified as Ace nods before looking at windshield of his ship while getting ready to jump which he does alongside Layla. He looks at Ace for a moment trying to compose himself to tell him about his father but all he sees is him, especially with that hood.

"And Ace..." The hunter looks at Zavala for a moment who is hesitant right now. Thoughts race through his mind alongside with his heart too how would he react to this, that the closest thing you had to a father was standing right next to you and treated you like his son and you didn't even know it at all. Cayde's death was recent and he's left an impact on him so he doesn't want to apply lemon juice to an already bad wound. Zavala sighs knowing that it's still not time yet.

"Good luck out there." Zavala logs off as Ace raises an eyebrow before they come out of hyper-space to the Dreaming City which they fly over to the destination Petra is at right now. The ship breaks through the atmosphere of the flat disk and spot Petra Venj overlooking the Strand where Scorn would attack the rift generator although there's barely any Scorn around with some eyeing them on high grounds as they descend upon the Awoken commander who spots them. Their respective ships fly past Petra with the two trans-matting outside as Ace has the almost finished burger sticking out of his mouth to which he uses his lips to make it move into his mouth and finishes his meal then burps.

"Ew..." Weiss grimaced.

"Oh come on. You need to let some air out!" Ace replied as his ghost rolls her eye. Of all the guardians, she wonders why did she choose him from the start but she remembers why though, it was because she wanted to stick out of the crowd and choose a fun guardian opposite of how much of an uptight ghost she is. Despite it all, Weiss still likes Ace a whole lot due to his attitude and skill. Petra spots them as Ace gives her a brief salute alongside Layla with Petra jumping off the platform and lands in front of them.

"Petra Venj, say can you do the knife trick first before going down to business?" The hunter asks with Layla turning to him then nodding. Petra levitates her knife on her hand much to Layla's awe and Ace's as well. The knife lands back to her hand causing Ace to pull his head back a little.

"Still sends chills down my spine. Cayde told me about that but since I'm rarely in the Reef, I assumed he must've been exaggerating about it. So, what's going on? Scorn seemed spooked and they don't get spooked cause they're more undead than Hive." Ace asks her with Petra smiling reminding her of Cayde a little even that hood of his which is the _Vanguard Dare_ one although there appears to be a resemblance to his speech pattern alongside his behavior.

"Recently, one of our paladins reported a sighting of strange creatures coming out of the Bay Of Drowned Wishes, one of our lost sectors where guardians would find treasure. Their description matches Taken but instead are less unidentifiable and more erratic than them as well yet they are susceptible to light based weaponry and attacks." Petra explained to Ace as he looks at Layla for a moment then turns to Petra.

"Huh...maybe it's another Taken species? Who knows how big Oryx's army is." Ace replied.

"I don't think Taken are pure black and have yellow eyes. I need you two to deal with it as soon as possible, perhaps this new race can lead us to breaking the curse of the Dreaming City." Petra responded as the two hunters sigh and summon their respective sparrows which are a red _Azure Azazyel_ that belongs to Ace while Layla's is the _Warrior's Steed_ and colored blue. The two speed off while Layla leads him as she pulls out her sidearm, _Havoc Pigeon_ , in case there's any Scorn or Taken blocking their way. Ace knows what Layla wants to do and he's not letting her beat him, especially when he's ranked number three on the SRL races, he presses thrust button his sparrow and speeds near her.

"Don't act like I know what you think you're doing!" Ace taunted his partner causing Layla to laugh briefly.

"Oh trust me dude, I'm so gonna beat you! Whoever's first to the objective is gonna buy me some spicy ramen!" Layla roared as the two speed towards the cave leading to the Divalean Mist where the lost sector is. They swerve both of their sparrows around the rock in between their paths as Ace moves up ahead with Layla behind him causing Ace to laugh briefly while turning around but she points her finger at something revealing to be a Scorn Abomination causing Ace to move to the left while Layla shoots it with her grenade launcher thus causing the mutated Fallen which kills it immediately. Ace squints his eye in the mist trying to see...he spots a black cloaked figure yet he doesn't have the time to react causing him to swerve his sparrow again and fall off of it. The hunter gets up knowing that it's the same black cloak that other guy was wearing in the tower as he pulls out his hand-cannon then looks around for a moment panicked. Layla arrives while reloading her grenade launcher and sees the commotion causing her to get off.

"What's going on? You seem a bit spooked." Layla asks him as he looks for a moment. He makes a guess that either his eyes are tricking him or something else is going making him think that there is something more to the curse than it seems rather than doing the same thing as always. The hunter aims his gun around his surroundings for a moment in a panic but lowers his gun then sighs while adjusting his eyes for a moment then opens them again.

"It's nothing. Swore I saw our little intruder in the tower. Anyway, that lost sector is near..." Ace replied but sees the same figure standing on top of the mountain before he vanishes into some kind of dark void. It's stuff like this makes him wonder if the Traveler has guardians, then what kind of antithesis the Darkness has? He shakes off these thoughts before leading Layla to the lost sector which is right behind where guardians would land. They spot the cave with the lost sector symbol on the side.

"You ever wonder who leaves these?" Ace asks trying to get his mind off what he just saw.

"Beats me, Petra said no one has ever stepped foot into the Dreaming City. But whoever is doing these has waay too much time on their hands." Layla agreed while walking into the cave with her ghost, Dokkaebi, shining the way. Ace aims his gun with the radar on his HUD checking for any signs of hostiles which lost sectors tend to have mostly with one ultra waiting in the other side.

"I know right? First minutes in then we get lost sector locations like hot cakes on our map. It's like someone is watching every guardians's move. Or maybe they know what we want and it's loot. Cause let's be serious, standard issued weapons aren't exactly what you call effective. I'm talking about the whites and greens, maybe the blues should be grouped in that category." Ace adds to Layla's statement.

"Well I have my theories: It's probably guardians who discover stuff or maybe its Vanguard drones scouting the area." Weiss theorized causing Ace to tilt his head side to side making a bit of a meh assumption. They head out into the open with mist surrounding them with the sunlight shining on parts like the rock with the tree on it but there's no Scorn running around since the report stated that whatever is in there was enough to scare them off. Ace spots something...a black figure crawling on the ground causing him to raise an eyebrow the raises his exotic weapon to prepare for an incoming fight causing him to motion Layla to follow to which she does switching to an _Origin Story_ auto rifle while aiming her gun behind Ace as he leads the way. He hears faint whispering or lashing noises stemming from the other side of the lost sector where the treasure is located at.

The hunter spots a black yellow eyed creature of some kind that has humanoid features with spherical head and long twisted antennae making it look like something straight out of a child's drawing. Ace has seen Taken before but this is no Taken at all, it was something else and new at the same time. Weiss appears besides Ace and records the footage to stream it to the Vanguard then activates Ace's helmet cam then heads back inside his backpack. He shoots the creature causing it to explode due to the precision hit on its head.

"What the hell are these things?" Layla asks him as more begin to surround the two.

"I don't know but I think they're not Taken nor seem friendly." Ace replied while drawing his weapon while Layla aims her auto-rifle at all of them. The first one lunges towards him causing the hunter to fire his gun at the strange being's head causing it to burst while another dashes towards him but Layla shoots it down immediately while Ace moves up ahead with another jumping from behind him but he turns and shoots it while turning again to throw a knife at an incoming one. Another creature jumps towards his back but Ace ducks down and shoots it before turning around with Layla to shoot at more of them. He reloads his weapon but a creature grabs a hold on him causing Layla to to throw a knife at its back thus freeing Ace from its restraint as he nods back to Layla as a thank you. The last remaining creatures run towards the three with Layla pulling out her _Black Talon_ sword then throws a long range energy shot at all of them in a row thus destroying the creatures.

"Okay when there are ads there's a source that can end it." He sighed as Layla walks to him.

"And I think that sources could be somewhere else. My guess is that it's where the treasure is." Layla replied causing Ace to nod in response. They move to the right spotting more of the creatures with Ace and Layla ready their weapons as Weiss notices more humanoid looking variations but still retain that antenna except longer and have claw-like hands. The pack runs towards them with Layla shooting first and Ace second one handed as their shells of their bullets drop on the ground as yet another jumps towards him as Ace throws a skip grenade at it causing the grenade to burst into tracker rounds to swarm the creature thus killing it. More head out of the cave with Layla activating her spectral blades then dashes towards the monsters then swings her blade and tears through its body with the remains vaporized by the void energy then slices more around her as another pack heads towards the huntress but Ace jumps from behind and unleashes his blade barrage at them with each knife going into their chests as they explode into solar embers from their remains. Layla turns invisible next while Ace sighs and throws a trip mine at one causing the thing to explode next to its allies while more head out of the cave with the huntress cutting past through them with Ace moving ahead but another jumps from the ground but he aims his gun backwards and shoots it next with Layla's super deactivating as the two clear the entire horde then venture into the cave.

"So any people to consult to deal with these things? My number one pick is Eris Morn." Ace asks his ghost who appears beside him. He's known Eris for a long time after all, sure he didn't learn much about Hive magic but she's actually a decent person underneath that darkness infected look on her. Layla heard about Eris before and she met her once though she creeped her out and it was only for a mission.

"Definitely! Eris probably knows about these things and where they came from." Weiss agreed and spots the center of the lost sector but with something standing there...another black cloaked figure. Ace's eyes widen alongside Layla's who aims her rifle at it assuming that it's the same one from the tower they saw earlier.

"Alright spooky, stand down cause last time I was caught off guard by your little show now I'm not gonna show some mercy a second time." Ace aims his hand-cannon at the figure who turns around while it turns to Layla aims carefully but notices a face underneath the hood...it's tan and has yellow eyes with a hint of silver hair. He summons a similar sword that the other wielded but different in design having a dark black handle with a raised spiral curve around it with the pommel and guard resembling black wings and the base has the symbol of a goat giving it a demonic design with the teeth of the blade resembling demonic wings.

"Foolish to think you can attack me with such a primitive weapon." The figure spoke looking at Ace's gun.

"Guns like this took down gods ya'know." Ace replied with a smirk underneath his helmet.

"But not ones like me..." The figure runs towards Ace with the weapon raised causing the hunter to start firing at him but he blocks the shots before suddenly vanishing then reappearing behind the hunter causing him to turn around quickly to pull out his knife then takes a brief swing to block him with sparks flying. Layla shoots another void blast from her sword but the figure blocks it again as Ace pulls out a trip mine and plants it on his back causing an explosion that knocks Ace against the wall but staggers the dark impetus leading Layla to run towards him and swing her sword left and right but he dodges and ducks before she raises it again to hit his head leading to him blocking the attack.

"So this is what you've become...a primitive" Layla roars in rage and attempts to push herself to make him fall while Ace gets up with his shield regenerating from the impact he got.

"Okay! Now I'm mad!" Ace yelled as the figure turns around briefly and gives a brief chuckle causing the hunter to aim his gun at him but he teleports away once more with another creature, much larger and muscular than the others with bandages on its face, spawns behind him and lifts the hunter causing Ace to turn around and start shooting its head but nothing is working despite a few damages to it. He struggles to move while Layla breaks the lock between her and the mysterious figure then pulls out her sidearm and starts shooting at him with the figure dashing left and right to dodge each shot she fires right before readying his sword at her but Layla does a quick dodge causing him to slash his blade against a rock.

Ace moves his legs around with the beast having its hand on his face but has an idea. He activates his super which is his golden gun and starts firing at the creature's chest thus burning it because of the light emitting from the power. It drops Ace causing him to divert his attention to the figure fighting Layla causing him to shoot at him again but the creature behind him and blocks the bullets but it burns it slightly. The hooded man fires a dark orb at Layla who shoots it causing the orb to burst but he makes a quick dash causing her to pull out her sword again to block the strike. What she doesn't know is that a black mass is beneath her feet which Ace notices. He knows what he must do...

The hunter runs around the creature while suppressing fire then pushes Layla off of the black mass and himself on it. Ace attempts to get up but he feels like something is dragging him under much to his confusion. The hooded figure vanishes into black smoke as Layla runs towards him.

"Ace!" Layla cried as Ace lifts his arm but he can't at all. Nothing is working, every step he's taking only leads him further and further to the point he's now at his head. There's no time left at all, his time has come and he knows it. Layla attempts to pull him but it makes the pull stronger as Ace looks at her for a moment knowing he's accepted his fate.

"Tell Zavala that being a Vanguard scout is the best...bet...I've ever..." The darkness takes over him as Layla screams while trying to shoot it off. Ace falls back for a moment with his view turning completely black and finds himself falling then closes his eyes.

* * *

"Get your brother to the machine, now!" A woman yelled at Ace who wakes up with a baby on his arms then looks around for a moment to see that he's in a lab. The woman has a name tag, Maya Sundaresh, as he puts him in some kind of Vex teleporter. It sparkles with the same flare as a normal teleporter would as someone takes the baby from behind it. It soon begins to malfunction and shut down.

"No, no! NO!" Maya yelled at the computer before Ace's vision fades away.

* * *

"Ace...Ace..." A muffled voice calls out to Ace in the darkness for a moment as his eyes begin to slowly open to see the sky colored in a darker shade of blue. His HUD is still active and that fact he's breathing means he's alive and well but something wasn't right at all. He slowly gets up with Weiss floating in front of his face.

"Get up you dolt! We're in some kind of weird place!" Weiss yelled at him causing him to rise into a sitting position. He's never had that dream before at all while he rises up. The hunter looks around for a moment seeing the strange area that looks like a grim yet beautiful picture with organic rocks with white veins on it, over the horizon he can see light which he assumes to be civilization meaning perhaps a quick use of a sparrow can help.

"Um Weiss? Where are we?" Ace asks his ghost worriedly for a moment.

"uM WeIsS? wHeRe aRe wE? We're in some weird place! It doesn't look like the ascendant realm at all." The female ghost mocked and screeched as Ace removes his helmet because it was getting harder to breath for a moment. He looks around for a moment trying to comprehend the situation at the moment seeing that this is some new alien world alongside the fact he can't contact the Vanguard. His sparrow would do the trick to get to the light but perhaps its better to stay on land for the time being for who knows whats inside the water.

"Alrighty then, Weiss can you do a scan? I need a layout of the land on my radar. Maybe there's some civilized society here." He ordered his ghost as she rolls her single eye then rises up into the air to give off a blue wave then lowers to her partner.

"As if anyone is gonna live here. I'm betting the Taken would...wait, I'm getting a signal. It's nearby. Just north." Weiss informed after the data came up with Ace nodding and walking along the shoreline overlooking the strange light over the horizon. This place is barren and devoid of light besides that one, it's like a realm of darkness or a meridian. His radar pings a blue signal nearby making him walk faster hoping its someone friend...he reaches the location. The hunter spots a back of a white haired woman standing on the water as if she's floating on it while his feet are deep. Something wasn't right at all with her and he can tell...

"Excuse me? Do you know where I am?" She doesn't answer but he can make out movement with her head indicating she heard him but he can make out her back clothing that consists of two cloths around her waist and the skin of her back exposed indicating she's wearing a corset of some kind.

"Your light...it reminds me someone." Those exact words immediately kicks Ace's knee jerk reaction making him open the holster of his gun. The fact she knows his light means she has something to do with the two cloaked figures and even sensing it like a dog sniffing a scent makes her more suspicious. A feeling of dread fills the air as the woman slowly turns around revealing her full form as that of wearing a black corset and two straps intersecting on her chest along with what appears to be black gloves with red tips reaching her sleeve while she wears shorts in between the two cloths on her waist. On her hand is a similar weapon that the other cloaked figures had albeit a little kid friendly-looking. The blade is adorned with stars with the teeth resembling key rows and the hilt being golden.

"Okay, I think that's my time to leave. Sorry if I was bothering you and your creepy...standing or whatever you were doing. I'll let you be!" Ace pleaded with an innocent smile while slowly backing away with Weiss preparing to revive Ace should a fight occur. The woman draws her sword at Ace and runs towards him causing Ace to draw his hand-cannon and starts firing away at the woman who blocks the incoming shots but Ace goes for the leg which grazes her a little causing her to briefly yelp in pain before coming closer to Ace then swings her sword at him but he pulls out his knife with the two weapons clanging against each other while giving off sparks as Ace ducks then turns to the woman.

"Can you please just look deep inside your heart and realize that I'm stuck here just like you?!" The hunter pleaded with the woman.

"There is no escape!" She roars at Ace causing him to throw a skip grenade at her as the tracker rounds begin to swarm her but she summons some kind of bubble around herself to protect herself causing all of the rounds to explodes but leaves herself unscathed by the explosion leaving Ace stunned with his eyes widen at the sight. The woman vanishes but reappears with duplicates of herself surrounding Ace while wandering around ominously making him wonder who's the real one while he aims his around him.

"You don't know what true loneliness is... No help ever came... I waited for so long..." The women spoke in unison as Ace looks behind him for an escape but a dark barrier is blocking the way giving him no choice but to fight her as they swarm around him. He has an idea as he jumps in the air and casts a blade barrage at all of them thus making all of them burst with one hitting the real woman and burns her slightly as she removes the knife from her shoulder with her wound healing from it. She disappears again but appears with more duplicates of herself to fire a stream of light at Ace who moves out of the way but is hit instead. The shots depletes his shield with Ace regaining his bearings as the woman and her copies turn into spinning tornado-like shapes shooting off sharp objects from them and begin to converge on him. Ace shoots his gun at the first one which causes her to stagger then runs to avoid being hit as all of them converge and form a strange star-like symbol. He shoots at her again but she turns around and fires a dark stream at him thus knocking the hunter away and making him drop his gun on the ground.

" All that's left in my heart is misery and despair...and I want you to feel it!" She roared at Ace who attempts to reach for his hand-cannon but the darkness burns his entire body making him wince in pain.

"Yeah I feel...every bone on my body. Maybe on my mind and my psyche..." Ace replied while looking at the woman as she closes in on him. The woman leaps towards Ace while yelling causing Ace to raise his right arm to cover himself. A flash light appears on his hand causing him to close his eyes then opens them slowly upon realizing that he's breathing. On his hand is a sword similar to hers and the other hooded figures but it's different. The blade is large resembling a slab of metal with the tip resembling a hunter knife alongside its teeth on its side. Its hilt has the hunter symbol on it and the arm guard surrounding the handle shaped like a square. The woman jerks her head back and eyes widen before Ace kicks her in the stomach then rolls over with the sword ready.

 _ **Face My Fears By Hikaru Utada and Skrillex.**_

"Hey Weiss, Check this out! I've never seen anything like this in the weapon records! Maybe I stepped on an exotic engram!" The hunter bragged before his ghost appears before him.

"I don't think there's a record period! But while this is all sorts of "fascinating" shouldn't you focus on something more important like, oh I don't know... SURVIVING THE ONSLAUGHT OF THIS PSYCHO YOU DOLT!" Weiss yelled at him as Ace smirks then swings his blade defiantly at the woman in front of him. He could feel his light surging with power on his hand. The woman runs towards him while Ace does the same as the two yell at each other as the hunter slams his blade against her with a mocking smile on his face looking back at her yellow eyes. He breaks the lock as she jumps back while Ace pulls out his hand-cannon again with some shots heading towards her but she blocks them all with Ace running full force at the woman feeling confident that he can beat her with it. Ace jumps in the air with the weapon raised as he is surrounded by solar energy that overtakes his body and sets the weapon on fire before slamming it on the ground giving off some solar burns on the woman as she growls in pain. He pulls out the _Ace Of Spades_ again and starts firing at the woman who is hit numerous times by the shots inflicted on her with Ace moving while shooting at her. Ace swings the weapon to her side but she blocks it and fires off an electrical burst knocking Ace back but stops himself from staggering. The weapon begins to morph into a flaming pistol like a golden gun and shoots at her causing her to block them but a round passes by her shoulder.

A dark aura surrounds the woman causing Ace's eyes to widen for a moment before she unleashes a dark wave and knocks Ace on the ground and pulling down his hood. The weapon disappears again from his hand as he gets up noticing that its gone and looks at his gun on his hand while the woman rises up with all her injuries healed. He looks down at his gun in sadness as the woman teleports in front of him...and with a smile on his face, he closes his eyes knowing he's at peace now.

"...I'm coming home, Layla." Ace sadly said and aims the _Ace Of Spades_ one last time defiantly at the menace who knocks him away with one fatal strike and dropping his gun again. He falls on the ground with his hunter outfit in tatters while crawls as the woman picks up the exotic weapon from the ground and observes the weapon on her hand then looks at Ace who is coughing in pain.

"Well...well this is awkward." The hunter coughed for a moment as she looms over him victorious from their fight. She observes the gun again which almost killed her, a primitive yet effective weapon...a perfect trophy.

"Hey...y-you got a gun I can barrow?" Ace asked trying to delay the inevitable.

" No. But...I do have a bullet. With your name on it." She replied to him and walks closer to the downed hunter like a predator closing in on a downed prey. Ace winces in pain while crawling back fruitlessly but the burns are too much for him.

"You're lucky that you're stuck here with me. Cause if you stepped into my world, they'd light you like a Dawning Tree...and destroy whatever this hellhole is this..." He continued to insult her. The woman puts her thumb on her lips with a small smile on her face knowing she has his most prized weapon and makes a shush sound with her mouth.

"Shh, shh, shh, shh..." She hushed him while brandishing the gun and wipes her hand on the barrel then turns to Ace.

"This is going to hurt...a lot." The woman takes aim at him.

"Any last words?" Of all the things Ace has seen, this takes the cake and he wishes that this was all a bad dream but it wasn't, he's going to die here and that's final...or not. He's just giving her a head start because she's pretty and gives her the chance to kill a handsome hunter like him.

"Y-You said my light reminds you of someone...who was it?" Ace asked her as she gets flashes of a blonde boy before snapping back to reality.

"Someone I knew...and you're not him." She responded.

"I always wanted to go out in the sunset with a pretty woman as a first date...meh, this counts." And to that comment, Ace sealed his face. The woman fires the gun at his head thus killing the hunter as she stands there observing the body. She turns around and begins to walk away while observing the weapon then holsters it on her back. What she doesn't know is that Weiss is behind Ace's head hiding and activates her revive ability causing Ace to open his mouth gasping for air and attempts to rise up but Weiss gets in front of his head and gently pushes him down then turns as the woman vanishes then looks at Ace.

"She's gone." Weiss notified while Ace rises up.

"And she's got my hero's gun...well lets be thankful that I got a spare." Ace replied before spawning a _Hawkmoon_ hand-cannon while getting up for a moment to hunt her down for stealing his gun.

* * *

Layla stands before an Ahamkara bone with its spirit, Muninn, sensing her presence. She knows how these things work and takes a deep breath to make a wish to get her friend back.

* * *

The woman continues to walk in the sands...and spots a door out of nowhere. She tilts her head then heads towards it but something hits her in the back of the head revealing to be a sand ball.

"Hey! We're not done yet!" Ace's voice yelled at her.


	4. Episode Preview: Layla

A hundred years ago...

A female cloaked figure wearing a black hooded trench coat sits on a log while looking at a campfire with many tents surrounding her and the Traveler over her head. She could feel the cold air breeze on her skin which she finds relief in. The woman eats a piece of chicken from her stick as a titan wearing a helmet with dual bent horns sits in front of her.

"Say, you haven't spoken since you arrived here in the camp. We know you're a guardian since you have a ghost. Maybe you can speak up a little." The titan advised causing her to lift her head. She removes

"I'm a hunter." She spoke.

"A hunter? You sure don't look like one. Maybe its the cloak, in fact, I have a far better outfit than that. What's your name?" The titan replied. She removes her hood while her ghost spawns near her.

"My name is...Layla."


	5. Layla

A black trench coated figure walks in the snowy landscape with her ghost floating beside her as she looks around for a moment upon hearing the news of a bastion beneath the Traveler to which she is right. In front of her is a large camp consisting of people wearing worn out clothing and some armed with rifles of old that were scrounged up from ruins. A titan spots her with her ghost and lets her pass seeing her as a non-threat while she treads upon the camp grounds beneath the spherical being. She looks around for a moment while ignoring the playing children and citizens walking about doing their own business then spots a bonfire with large logs surrounding it giving her a cue to head towards there and sit on it for warmth. The figure sits on one of the logs and reaches her hand out keeping herself warm from the heat as a titan spots her sitting alone, he's wearing a helmet with two horns on his sides and a worn out jacket alongside scarf. He walks over and sits on a log as he does the same thing as her...

"A long way from home isn't it?" The titan spoke in a light British accent receiving her attention. No one hasn't spoken to her for a long time besides her ghost plus she's a newly resurrected risen, she doesn't know anyone yet. The fact someone is speaking to her is both a relief and a bit scary to the guardian. He observes outfit making him wonder what kind of class she is. She looks up with her hood barely covering her face but there is a hint of a short hair.

"Say, you haven't spoken since you arrived here in the camp. We know you're a guardian since you have a ghost. Maybe you can speak up a little." The titan advised causing her to lift her head. She removes her hood revealing to be a woman with black hair and purple highlights on the tips of her short hair. He observes the cloak wondering where does one get such a fashionable outfit that looks like it's not from this realm at all.

"I'm a hunter." The huntress spoke.

"A hunter? You sure don't look like one. Maybe its the cloak, in fact, I have a far better outfit than that. What's your name?" The titan replied. She opens her mouth for a moment in trying to say her old name but realizes that she's not who she once was, not anymore so the least. The hunter hesitates for a moment trying to muster up anything to say but saying who she once was feels like aphasia.

"My name is...Layla." Layla introduced herself as the titan smiles underneath his mask seeing that she isn't so anti-social. To that, he reaches his hand out towards the hunter in a welcoming gesture as she shakes his hand too.

"My name is Shaxx, honor to meet you Layla." Shaxx introduced himself.

* * *

Layla looks down on her scout rifle in her new armor while waiting in a watchtower overlooking the town that was built under the Traveler as Zavala leads a group of refugees to the area. It's hard to imagine that it's been sixty years since this place was once a little camp but time is fast for a guardian because you look the same for your entire life. She overlooks the town seeing shops and houses alongside suburban homes being built and smiles for a moment, this basically marked the end of the Dark Ages although she feels that someone should join her in celebrating. The huntress hasn't been talking to anyone for a long time besides her ghost.

"Any news for today Dokka? Feeling real bored right now." Layla sighed while she nods at the Awoken titan passing by. Her ghost appears beside her in her new shell which is colored in the indigo matrix shader she made for her. Of all the ghosts, Dokkaebi was the one who knew all the gossip from the other ghosts about what's hot in guardian news and what's going on in the field. Her ghost flies in front of her while she looks at her.

"Well I've heard Tevis Larsen and Quantis Rhee found perfectly preserved fried twinkies in a doomsday vault." Dokkaebi replied causing Layla's eyes to shrink for a moment realizing what it means. She's eaten fried twinkies before and even baked them, the taste was enough to give life back to the huntress who has eaten nothing but deer and bear meat. Layla looks down from her guard post and spots two hunters, one wearing a frumious armor set and the other wearing vermilion stripe as she knows who it is fully.

"Yo Tev! Can you hand me some? The rations Perun gave taste like crap!...Don't tell her I said that." She asked the nightstalker who looks at his friend as she shrugs as he picks up the food from his pouch and throws it at her as she catches the fried confectionery treat with her hand and takes a bite. The hunter looks down at the two who are laughing with each other with a look of yearning in her eyes...the need for someone to be with her, forever. It's always been her alone...and she hates it. Layla sighs then continues observing incoming refugees heading towards them.

* * *

A Fallen vandal slams Layla against a wall as she struggles to move but realizes his weakness: The stomach. She kicks the alien pirate there causing him to yelp in pain while she pulls out her knife and stabs the back of his neck. Layla catches air for a moment with either splashed on mouth like blood as she can make out a taste for a moment, it takes musky and a little sweet. It wasn't time for enjoyment though, the Fallen were attacking the city...and no one is with her to share her anguish with her. Layla stands in the middle of empty street with her auto rifle in hand and sighs before heading off trying to find any remaining guardian forces.

* * *

Layla lays on the grass of the tower trying to doze off as she turns seeing guardians with their fireteams and clans...their friends. Its been a hundred years but time goes by fast when you're a guardian. But she didn't care, she didn't care about anything for that matter. All she cares is the next mission from her ghost or when Xander 99-40 is gonna reset anytime to give her a bounty and maybe perhaps get an exotic quest from him so she can get an exotic weapon. She was a ghost to everyone...except for one.

"Shaxx come on! They made me do it! I swear" A voice called out causing Layla to rise and sees a blonde man about her age, a hunter obviously, wearing _Bog Wild_ armor being lifted by Shaxx by his hood. It looks like he's either a rookie or a veteran but the mannerisms remind her of Cayde-6 in a way though. She can barely hear their argument with Shaxx looking angry at him before walking over the balcony to drop him but Cayde runs in motioning the titan to stop. Shaxx turns around then lets the young hunter down settle down on the ground.

"I caught this runt accepting bribes from Tex Mechanica. Could you believe the nerve!?" Shaxx roared at Cayde who looks at the blonde hunter as he breaths a sigh of relief. Cayde rolls his eyes then turns to him with his hands on his hips and shakes his head as the young hunter gets up while shaking his head.

"They offered me a ton of glimmer..."

"Glimmer!? You're a guardian for god's sake, there's glimmer everywhere you go. You can make an easy one million grand everyday just by killing enemies of the City or going around doing missions yet you decide to accept bribes from a foundry that helped in the Faction Wars." The titan spat at him as he sighs and rolls her eyes.

"Well I needed to rank up fast so I wanted a quick buck. Plus no one got hurt...also every foundry was involved in them too." He defended.

"Hurt? The only thing that got hurt was your integrity. We maybe hunters, bar hoppers and loose cannons but we have honor. You basically threw that out of the window the moment you accepted bribes." Cayde adds to Shaxx's statement causing his eyes to widen in realization then hangs them in shame upon realizing what he's done.

"...I'm sorry. It won't happen again." The hunter apologized as Shaxx sees humility in him.

"Ace right? If you want to atone for you've done, perhaps you can join me with the redjacks in finding future crucible locations." Shaxx offered Ace who hangs his eyes in reluctance. Cayde looks at the young hunter for a moment with his eyes lowering and moving left and right as if he was pondering on something before they widen upon realization on what it is. The blue exo looks at Ace for a moment before he sighs then gets up and shakes his hand with a smile underneath his mask thus getting Layla's attention.

* * *

She sees him again by her side in the Altar of Flame as the sun shines upon him and a couple of guardians beside her while they face off against the other. The lead guardian who appears to be the leader who organized them is the first to face off against the other team while Ace and her go last. The trials were illegal to join in but the smell of loot attracted many guardians since normal city-based weapons aren't enough to take down the minions of the darkness. This hunter...makes her feel different from the others. Her thoughts are interrupted as they spawn in the corner of the map with the titan looking around.

"So you in this for the loot? Just asking, cause I think that Vance guy convinced some people but hey, who knows." Ace asks Layla getting her attention for a moment. Time stops around her since she's spoken to no one besides her own ghost which stuns the huntress since hasn't been with anyone for a hundred years, she opens her mouth underneath her helmet for a moment...

"And join the mad ravings of a fool who acts cool? Not my type, I'd rather join the Concordat than work for those traitors." Layla replied as Ace breaths a sigh of relief that is heard underneath his helmet but a titan behind him hears it and peers out of a structure as the huntress pulls out her _Hawkmoon_ handcannon and shoots him dead on the ground making the blonde hunter turn around then looks to see a female warlock about to activate a nova bomb on her hand causing Ace to pull out his _Palindrome_ and shoot her head in the process.

"Oh thank God, I thought I stumbled upon some kind of cult initiation or something...We're all in it for the loot right?" He asked while looking around but another titan is about to hit him with a Hammer Of Sol on his hand but Ace ducks then shoots him underneath the helmet. The team leader comes back to Ace after noticing that they are on three to zero which means they must be doing something right.

"Ace, stop messing around and follow my lead!" The titan yelled at him before Ace nods then gestures to Layla to come with him as she makes a smile smile underneath her armor. For the first time, someone noticed her and she felt happy for it...she felt warm as if though someone lit a spark then turned into a small fire in a cold cave. It was at this moment she know, she will never leave his side.

"Got it!" Layla yelled while feeling that something is behind her causing her to leap against the wall then turns around seeing a hunter with a shotgun as she shoots him in the head thus shattering his helmet and killing him. Ace stops and smiles at Layla before they head on off knowing that this will be the start of a beautiful friendship with the two going places.

* * *

"I. Am. So. Bored." Ace sighed while standing and overlooking...at anything in Felwinter's Peak due to the amount of snow blocking his view as he is armed with his sniper rifle alongside Layla who is resisting the urge not to fall asleep because the cold makes her sleep most of the time due to how peaceful it is. Layla lowers her head as she gives off a snore before Lord Saladin walks up between them. This was supposed to be a celebration of the Battle Of Six Fronts but somehow the celebration erupted into confusion the moment they lost their light thus panic began to spread but Shiro-4 and Saladin claimed authority and advised no one to leave the mountain for something is brewing...or if they can't since their ghosts lost their light. Saladin taps Layla in the back causing her to jump and turn around at the Iron Lord who is unimpressed at their attitude.

"Your patrol shift is up. Get back in the temple." Saladin ordered as the two salute him before heading back into the warm fireplace that is the Iron Temple surrounded by the statues of the Iron Lords whom Ace looks up to a lot. More snow seems to come as Saladin realizes that due to a lack of light, they will die their permanent deaths making him wonder if a patrol is necessary. Ace sits on the bonfire in front of the statues while guardians around him are idling or trying to get the old radio working to call upon anyone out there but the range is too far off and no one from the City is responding at all alongside the fact their ghosts can't summon vehicles as well. He begins to become lost in thought for a moment trying to comprehend his situation...right before feeling something on his shoulder. Ace turns to see Layla leaning against his head due to the warmth of the Iron Temple causing the blonde hunter to sigh. The hunter rolls his eyes for a moment then continues looking at the fireplace in front of him.

"Xemnas...please...Axel, Elrena..." Layla mumbled in her sleep as Ace raises an eyebrow but he simply dismisses it while twiddling his thumbs and swinging his legs. He is about to whistle for a moment by puckering his lips...before a blue light suddenly casts over him causing his eyes to widen with a sensation he's never felt before. It feels like he can take on the world now as Layla's eyes open then widen upon feeling it and jolts upward while she looks at her hands which begin to glow in a void color. Ace looks at his in return with his hand now glowing in a solar color as he realizes that's his super that is now restored.

"Holy shit! Dude, we got our light back!" She rejoiced while Dokkaebi appears beside her with Weiss floating around just the same as him as the four get up from their seats with the two's light resonating on their bodies. Weiss hovers over them and turns on her music player.

 ** _Booty Bass-Shake That Ass._**

"Yeah! We get to kick ass again!" Ace rejoiced as he does his _Potential Dance_ emote with Layla doing her _Denial Dance_ as the two celebrate their in their light returning. The guardians around them start dancing too with Lord Saladin rolling his eyes at the sight knowing that once they get back to the City or reestablish contact with them then they'll back to business as usual. Shiro joins in on the celebration while doing the _Make It Rain_ emote as a titan does the _More Smores_ one.

* * *

He couldn't believe it...he just couldn't...the City was attacked in a war that would be worse than Twilight Gap and he didn't even participate in it. Ace looks at the ruined remains of the Tower shocked at what he's seeing right now, the fact their light ran out was a huge warning that they should've gone to the City or at least helped but he would've died forever if he did. Just the sight leaves Layla stunned at the sight of the former home of the guardians...someone walks up behind Ace and places his hand on his shoulder causing him to turn around to see Cayde himself. The blonde hunter lowers his eyes still shocked before hugging the Hunter Vanguard who returns it as well.

* * *

Layla kneels on the ground seeing that Ace is gone...taken by some dark mass of some kind. It didn't look like the normal Taken portal at all which means this goes beyond Riven or even Oryx, this was a new threat the guardians will have to face and they are not prepared for it. She's not even sure if the Drifter knows what this is...but she won't give up on him. Not at all. The huntress rises from shock but stumbles slightly to regain her focus then heads out of the cave, she'll report to the Vanguard later but for now, Ace needs her help and she knows who she can trust. Sometimes a side must be taken even if is the wrong one...words to live by knowing what she's seen and words from an old friend. She gets up while running outside of the lost sector as Scorn arrive to protect it again but the huntress throws a knife at one of them before pulling out her _Havoc Pigeon_ and firing at the incoming ones heading towards her.

"Dokkaebi, how much byron bough do I have in my inventory?" Layla asked her ghost while reloading her handgun feeling that presence of loneliness creeping back at her. She won't lose the only friend she's got in this world, the Red War has claimed enough fellow guardian brothers and sisters, and she won't lose another who she sees more than that. Those bones may only give her some tincture but the Ahamkara's transcend death itself and can still communicate to heed her wishes for him to return no matter what. More dark creatures spawn around her causing the huntress to pull out her knife to fight them all off again but they are all shot easily by someone in the mist who is walking out causing Layla to aim her gun at the figure...it's Petra who is armed with a scout rifle.

"Layla? Where's Ace?" Petra asked her making Layla sigh in relief that it's just Petra and not some Fallen. She leans behind her then looks at the huntress who falls silent trying to explain the situation and its solution...

"Layla...?"

"Ace...Ace got pulled into something, some kind of dark stuff but I think I can bring him back though and end this once and for all." Layla explained her vague plan but Petra knows what she's talking about. Guardians use those bones for tincture but this gonna be different, a wish, yet she knows how Ahamkara wishes can go wrong all the time because of an Ahamkara's need to feed off desire and misery. Petra's eyes widen upon the realization causing her to gently place her hands on Layla's shoulders.

"Layla, those bones should be only be used for a tincture of Queen's Foil not on a wish! It's bad enough the Dreaming City is stuck in a time loop but who knows what one last wish will do!" Petra begged and shook her desperately causing Layla to let go of her quickly and gritting her teeth.

"And if that wish backfires, I'll make sure it'll backfire on me instead on everyone..." There is a pause between them for a moment as Petra decides what to do. A wish like that would have consequences but if it only backfires on Laya then the situation in the Dreaming City will stay the same. A lesser of two evils...Petra sighs with Layla feeling like she understands her...only for the Awoken to pull out her Vestian Dynasty at the hunter seeing that she made her decision.

"...I can't let you do this." Petra sadly said at Layla prompting the huntress to throw an smoke grenade at Petra causing a cloud of smoke to engulf her. She coughs fervently while waving it away and fires her gun but the smoke clears revealing Layla has disappeared into it much to her shock and anger. Meanwhile Layla speeds off with her sparrow as Taken spawn in front of her but she shoots them all with her gun ensuring that nothing gets in her way. What she doesn't know is a cloaked figure watching from afar at the whole thing as she pulls down her hood revealing that it's a blonde haired woman with blue eyes...she smiles at the sight before opening a dark portal then walks away.

* * *

Realm Of Darkness.

"Hey! We're not done yet!" Ace yelled at the woman ready for a rematch against her as she turns around eyes squinting at the revived hunter confused on why he rose up from the dead after a gunshot wound to the head. He grips his spare hand-cannon on his hand while he clenches his teeth at the mysterious adversary in front of him as he yells while firing the gun on his hand towards her. The woman dashes towards Ace in lightning speed as she blocks each shot landed towards her via her own key-like weapon as she disappears temporarily before reappearing again ready to take a swing leading to Ace to activate his shadow dodge as the weapon phases through him. She looks around for a moment wondering where Ace went before noticing that he's on her right aiming the exotic weapon on his hand against her her head.

She notices this and takes a swing at him which strikes the hunter leading him to be pushed away by the force of it all but Ace regains his focus then softly lands by reaching his hand out to the ground leaving a trail on the sand. Ace raises his head while switching to his sniper rifle and takes aim as she notices the glint from the distance leading her to run towards him while zipping in motion making sure he doesn't have a clear shot on her then lunges at him with the weapon. The hunter smirks knowing she was led into a trap. Suddenly, he drops a skip grenade on the ground! The tracking rounds swarm the assailant with fervor! She is surrounded by the rounds as they explode seemingly killing her in the process! Ace huffs in exhaustion hoping that would be the last he's seen of the woman...

Ace scoffs and walks towards the smoke but feels something grabbing his left leg causing him to look down at whatever it is seeing a pair of yellow eyes with small hands holding him back. He aims his gun at it knowing its the same creature that attacked him from before but another pair of arms holds right leg next causing him to take aim at it next right before noticing the woman walk towards him. Ace's vision is suddenly engulfed in darkness making him feel like he's drowning while struggling. He flails around erratically swinging his knife left and right whatever surrounded him while seeing some glimpses of the outside but nothing is working. The hunter breathes heavily before closing his eyes...suddenly, a light spawns on his hand causing him to look down and see his version of her weapon. This gives him an opportunity to break free which he does while hacking away then freeing himself seeing what trapped him in the process, it's a tower made up of those creatures he saw in the Dreaming City.

The man lands on the ground with said weapon in hand as the swarm hovers over him before he locks in on all of them feeling like his light taking over his body as a fire-like aura surrounds his said weapon causing him to jump towards it feeling confident enough then hacks away at the swarm revealing the woman behind it. Ace roars in fury while attempting to swing it at her as there blades collide against each other while he tilts his blade slightly against hers to break her lock. He pulls out his knife from his hip and thrusts it into the side of her stomach before aiming the Hawkmoon at her head. She unleashes a dark shock-wave that pushes him on the ground as he gets up weakly. The woman lands on the ground helped by the creatures almost like a goddess with Ace knowing full well she might be in control of them. She removes the knife from her stomach with black blood coming out of it and her wound healing in the process making him grab the handle of his weapon tightly.

"I take it you must be a big fan of Darkness? You might wanna share your secrets on that?" Ace asked circling her trying to regain his strength after that encounter he had. The fire-like aura fades away from his keyblade while doing so observing the woman's next steps while she does the same wondering where did he come from. Ace wonders if she was a guardian as well because of those skills but the fact she was able to take him down several times with the thing says otherwise as he comes up with theories in his head yet they won't come in handy once she attacks him again. The woman darts towards Ace making him aim his gun at her once more hoping when this battle is over, he might get answers.

* * *

Layla arrives in the halls of the skulls of the Ahamkara's walking and observing them, she heard these belonged to ones that Mara Sov owned as she approaches the skull of Huginn with byron bough glowing bright with a violet fervor on her hands. The huntress kneels feeling the presence of the dragon as an act of reverence to the beast before her. She gulps for a moment and opens her mouth...

"Great Huginn, I beg for your help..." She offers the material to the skull as it begins to glow but a shot interrupts her wish making her turn around see Petra aiming her _Vestian Dynasty_ causing her to rise up. Layla fires her _Havoc Pigeon_ while sprinting causing Petra to dodge the shots gripping her knife in the process running towards her in response as well but doesn't recognize that the skull is glowing. A knife flies towards the huntress who grabs it by her blade but due to Petra's telekinesis, it slips out making her hand bleed because of it with Petra roundhouse kicking the human hunter knocking her down on the ground only for her to spin and trip Petra on the ground. Layla throws a smoke grenade at Petra's chest but she rolls over then shoots her twice knocking half of Layla's armor energy out as the huntress returns fire at her while wincing in pain as a response. Suddenly, something almost hits her foot causing her to turn around and see Awoken Corsairs armed with auto rifles behind her.

"Layla, you're outnumber three to one! Give up!" Petra ordered causing the woman to pull out an _Antiope-D_ SMG from inventory aiming it back at the women aiming the rifles at her. She never gives up on a friend, ever and it wouldn't take a thousand deaths to stop her.

"I like those odds..."

* * *

Ace dodges another strike from the woman while blocking yet another with his weapon and fires more Hawkmoon bullets into her chest which pierce through it making wounds no normal human would survive but she swings him away knocking him onto the ground. He activates his super and fires more golden gun shots at her only for them to be knocked away by her weapon like she was hitting baseballs instead of fiery balls of death and light at her. The hunter switches to his auto-rifle _Origin Story_ shooting frantically at her yet it is proven ineffective as well. He decides to throw at knife at her shoulder which lands against it as it explodes while Ace leaps in the air swinging his keyblade at her. He notices something behind her...

"What is that?" He said causing the attacker to turn around eyebrows raised.

* * *

Layla punches a Corsair hard in the helmet making it crack exposing her eye while another one tries shooting her with her pistol but she ducks then grabs her arm before punching her twice in the stomach then lifting the woman and throwing her against a wall knocking her unconscious. The Corsair with a broken helmet joins Petra in shooting at her again as Layla returns fire with her SMG at them making her take cover from them albeit almost hit in the process too. Petra goes to her fallen sister who gets up weakly only for Layla to leap towards her landing a punch in the head then a kick to the stomach before headbutting the commander knocking her out cold. The other Corsaid attempts to shoot at her again but Layla trips her on the ground then kicks her weapon away as she notices something...

A door stands in front of her causing the guardian to ready her weapon realizing it's the wish she was granted and that wherever Ace is, he'll come home. She bites her teeth walking towards it as it begins to open...to reveal the woman who attacked Ace who is behind her on the ground. Layla gasps shooting at her as the woman runs towards her while Ace gets up behind her running towards her as well then tackles her on the ground but a dark aura surrounds her causing her to release it and launching Ace out of the door and onto Layla. He gets up breathing heavily while Petra regains consciousness alongside the Awoken beside her as the broken helmeted Corsair runs at the woman with a knife but she grabs her head as a smooth ink-like matter takes over her turning her into something else, something inhuman.

"We need to run!" Petra warned but Layla knows running would slow them all down so she grabs her by the hand and activates her ghost to go to orbit therefore disappearing in the process. Ace does the same to the injured corsair as they both find themselves on their respective ships orbiting the Dreaming City making them relieved but a sudden realization comes to Petra who gets on the communications.

"All guardian and Awoken forces, withdraw from the Dreaming City at once! I repeat, withdraw at once!" She ordered on the communications as Ace watches the planet from his ship. A moment of silence happens as they all catch their breaths seeing the guardian and Awoken ships flying away much to Petra's relief but now the curse has gotten worse with a new enemy possibly worse than the Hive, Scorn and Taken pillaging the city. There is no victory at all, just a realization of complete loss. Petra hangs her head knowing the homeland of the Awoken is gone now...

* * *

Mara Sov watches the entire ordeal on her throne from a projection gripping the armchair of her seat. She knows who this and who she trained with yet has no idea how this happened but the fact she's like this now indicates something went completely wrong. The Queen rises from her throne summoning a keyblade that resembles more of a rapier alongside light manifesting all over her body before it vanishes revealing she's in silver armor and heads out with a portal opening.

* * *

Ace's ship known as the _Alpha Umi_ alongside Layla's flies over to the city with the male hunter trying his best to not lose his grip on the steering wheel due to being shock of the events. Whatever he saw was a darkness that almost matched the one in the Collapse to the point it shook him to the core to say the least, the woman's power almost rivaled that of Oryx and typical Hive magic as well. He's fought Taken, Cabal, Hive, and Vex but this is something new and something very dangerous to their world. The two appear out of their ships with Petra and her fellow corsair as well with Zavala taking notice walking towards them alongside Ikora Rey knowing something is wrong.

"Ace? Layla? What happened?" The Awoken titan asked him while Ace pulls his hood down and Layla kicking the floor realizing that she basically played into an Ahamkara's old trick. Desperation is what drove her into making the war on the Dreaming City worse and basically botched a Vanguard operation both of which drive a stake into Layla heart seeing that this is all her fault wanting to save Ace. Layla walks forward before Ace can speak up...

"Ace here was captured by an unknown enemy and I used the Ahamkara bones to wish him back only for more of the unknown enemies to infiltrate the Dreaming City." Layla explained making Zavala's eyes widen in both fear and anger at the hunter as he grits his teeth stepping forward to her.

"You did what!?" Zavala asked hoping he was hearing and seeing things as Ace intervenes.

"It was all on me sir. I tried taking on an unknown threat and seeing the situation was impossible, I told Layla to leave where I ended up in some kind of dark place that didn't look like a throne world at all. There was also two threats too: One guy wearing a black cloak who had darkness based powers and the one in the Dreaming City is some woman with white hair." Ace explained the situation entirely making the titan hangs his head and shaking it.

"Layla, do you have any idea what you have just done? You just made an entire situation worse and unleashed a threat perhaps greater than all of what we've faced before! This basically jeopardized any efforts that every guardian has done and now this new threat might be coming to us! This is the Awoken homeworld and a strategic location for the Vanguard containing every dangerous secret the Awoken have and now it is in the hands of forces we don't even know! Did you ever think before your decisions!?" Zavala roared at her making Layla pull back then closes her eyes. She knew that she would get a word lashing but never on this level as Zavala closes his eyes and clenches his teeth shaking his head.

"Do you at least have any intel who attacked you?" He asked sighing as his anger recedes albeit relieved that Ace is safe now. Everyday when he sees him, he sees Cayde in him alongside that hood and gun he has and if he died, the titan would never forgive himself since he's the last thing Cayde left behind. Ace lets Weiss out as she helps project the image of the attacker and the creatures.

"The attacker wielded a strange key-shaped weapon while the creatures in the Dreaming City are also these strange creatures that look something out of a kid's twisted drawings. I believe they have something to do with our visitor from last time." Ace explained as Ikora observes the projection in worry seeing it. She's seen many things in her life but this is different, these things look like it doesn't belong to their world like an invasive species similar to the Taken.

"They don't look like Taken nor does she look like a guardian. In all our years as guardians-we've only known the three factions of the Darkness that plague us in the form of the Fallen, Hive, Vex and Cabal...I believe we're dealing with fourth party that has discovered us." Ikora observed the models of the enemies that attack them causing Ace's eyes to widen in fear. The projection also shows the being using its darkness to turn a corsair into one of them as well meaning even a guardian can corrupted. Zavala watches the footage eyes squinting resisting the urge not to squirm at the sight.

"Shit...I guess it's a war on all fronts now and looking at their behavior-I don't think they're big on alliances meaning they're on their own faction for now." Ace added as Zavala nods at him.

"And we'll keep it that way. The only reason why the armies of the Darkness haven't destroyed the Last City as of yet is that they have their own motives and own agendas the others don't agree with. But we need to find a way to deal with this kind of new threat fast or it will spread us so all guardian forces and...Awoken, must keep their distance from the Dreaming City for now to risk infection from whatever this new enemy has." Zavala ordered while Petra blinks caught off guard stepping forward in anger.

"Zavala, the Dreaming City is full of secrets that will endanger the universe! If she gets her hands on it then we will all be doomed!" Petra pleaded as Ace turns to her. He wants to agree with her but Zavala is right after all, they would be going in blind fighting a threat that no one can comprehend and it will be made worse if a guardian turns into one of those things.

"I know it's a good idea fighting back but we're just throwing more food to the beast knowing what she can do and we'll end up having guardians shooting at us. But I have something with me that can deal with the situation." Ace proposed before revealing the key-like weapon on his hand and stabbing it on the ground. Zavala observes the weapon by picking it up only for the thing to vanish in light then back on Ace's hand much to his surprise hinting it's of magic origin as the Awoken can feel light resonating from it.

"I've seen swords in the past but that...thing looks different. Perhaps Lord Shaxx can take a look at it, report to him at once." Ikora ordered Ace who goes over the titan with Layla. Shaxx watches the monitor screens unimpressed at the sight of the fights going on wishing he can go back to action right this instant or participate, he hears Ace behind him and turns around seeing the keyblade in his hand making his head tilt curiously at the weapon. Petra watches Zavala and Ikora walk away then begins to follow to talk more strategies until her vision begins to turn blue all of a sudden...

 _Petra, bring him to me when he's done talking to Shaxx._

The voice sends ripples down Petra's body knowing who it belongs to and what she wants with Ace but the question is why? Sure he has the same weapon as the other but Ace is just one of many guardians yet she sees something special in him. She has never doubted her at all even during the olden days and whatever she has plans for him means victory is over the horizon. Petra puckers her lips conflicted wondering how to respond yet she knows she's never led the Awoken astray and their fate all rests on him.

"As you wish my queen." She whispered to herself.

* * *

Dul Incaru floats in the Eleusinia wondering if any guardians will come to her and they can repeat the cycle as always but a sudden disturbance within the reality bothers the wizard making her pause. Her Darkblade bodyguards can feel it also alongside the Taken...something has entered the realm and it's not a guardian, it was something more and it's power rivals that of the Hive's. For the first time since this cycle began-she is afraid to step out fearing for what awaits her outside.

* * *

The attacker feels the light resonate against her skin feeling almost relieved that she was out from that hellish place yet all what's left in her is darkness and hate for everything that moves...like the Scorn Stalker crawling backwards on the ground hyperventilating as his corrupted brothers tower over him colored in black and eyes glowing yellow. Before he can give off a scream, they soon jump towards him as the attacker simply watches them corrupt him into one of them now giving her a small smile. She heads out sits on a rock overlooking the entire Dreaming City and takes a deep breath smelling the air...the smell of freedom.

But that feeling for some reason-changes upon sensing something behind her seeing a woman in white armor and long flowing violet cape armed with the same weapon albeit shaped like a rapier standing before her with an aura of both light and dark resonating from the woman. The attacker squints her eyes at her as they begin circling each other for a moment eyes locked wondering what is their intent with the latter knowing who she is. She raises her weapon pointing at the dark woman in front of her.

"You must be one of Eraqus's students. Far from home are we not? Aqua I presume, I am Mara Sov, wielder and queen of the Awoken." She taunted her bringing the name that she has long forgotten about making her flinch for a split second as thoughts run through head wondering who she is. Was she gone for that long that he abandoned her for a new student? Her master never mentioned this woman yet a memory passes in her head remembering a student she talked about who disgraced the name. Aqua is grits her teeth at the keyblade wielder knowing she might be more experienced than her.

"And how do you know my name?" Aqua growled since the only ones who know her are either her friends or Eraqus herself. This woman doesn't deserve to utter her name, the name she forsook the moment the darkness consumed her, the name that was used by ones long lost to her in another lifetime yet here she is standing there saying her name. The white haired woman prepares herself resisting the urge to kill her waiting for the right moment to strike at her with precision.

"I know many things in many worlds. My friends are my eyes and ears...and yet I didn't know you what became of you. So...this is what happened...then I guess Eraqus is..."

"Long gone." Aqua completed her words making Mara pause for a moment and hang her eyes underneath her helmet in sadness then focuses on her. She didn't see a student anymore but a plague, an invasive creature that needs to be eliminated from this world or she will spread. The younger woman notices Mara's foot positioning itself by raising it indicating a possible attack hoping she'd let her guard down for now but she wasn't falling for any tricks. Aqua realizes that this is all just one big diversion to get her riled up and attack.

"That's a shame...and it is a greater shame that I have to eliminate one of his students!" Mara speeds towards Aqua who may have saw the attack coming yet couldn't predict when as the wielder's pupil's eyes shrink for a moment paralyzed by surprise but Aqua regains her bearings and blocks it next. Aqua leaps behind her and takes a swing but Mara ducks dodging the swing then attempts to swing back only for Aqua to leap backwards avoiding her swings as she lands with Mara raising her weapon only for her strike to be blocked by her while she kneels in the process. Mara grunts for a moment trying to hold her down seeing the right opportunity now.

"Thundaga!" Mara screamed with lightning striking Aqua sending shock waves across her body making Aqua scream in pain and agony with the swarm of dark creatures coming to her aid. Aqua releases a sudden burst in the form of dark waves throwing Mara across briefly but she stabs her weapon on the ground with a streak leaving it. She pulls out a strange trinket from her pocket, a star-shaped charm, an item that brings memories back to Aqua only for a moment realizing what Mara is going to do with it. Suddenly a portal opens with puppies running out but not just ordinary puppies-puppies with laser eyes much to Aqua's shock and confusion with Mara sadistically in triumph almost mocking her. A puppy lunges on top of Aqua shooting at her while she moves her left and right before throwing it away still avoiding the lasers shooting at her as they hit the creatures trying to assist.

The puppies soon disappear much to her relief with the woman regaining her concentration at Mara who runs at her again making Aqua prepare for another attack. Mara leaps briefly in the air with her weapon summoning a blizzard as ice shares burst out of it causing Aqua to block them in response while Mara punches her in the stomach then kicks her down on the ground. Aqua remembers the gun she stole from Ace causing her to pull it out and shoot Mara in the head but the bullet only shatters the visor as Mara takes notice dodging the shot only exposing her eye. The Awoken uses the charm again while speeding towards Aqua firing at her avoiding the shots as a figure manifests revealing a rather fit looking blonde man with an eyepatch and bandanna on his head complete with blue jeans and white bandages on his wrists coated in sixteen-bit pixels punches Aqua against a wall leaving a crack against it. He punches her more times then launches an energy ball at her knocking her face down.

"Thank you Rumble." Mara thanked the video game character who gives a thumbs up earning a hundred points then disappearing while Aqua who appears to be unconscious as she picks up her head eyes closed and face bruised from the fight gasping for air before the queen drops her again on her face. She raises her weapon up but looks up and sees something...a swarm of the same creatures coming at her almost like a hurricane blocking out the skies. More creatures appear from the walls of the Dreaming City causing Mara to slowly back away eyes widen realizing that Aqua isn't the only threat out there. She summons a flying vehicle that has the same aesthetic as her weapon then begins flying off with a portal opening.

* * *

"Hmm...this weapon appears to be of magic origin, I've never seen anything like it in fact! It has light and belongs to our world yet doesn't at the same time! You said spawned on your hand?" Shaxx observed the weapon on the table next to Ace who nods in response. The titan picks it up again but it disappears in a flash of light and back on Ace's hand as Layla watches giving her an idea motioning Ace to give it to her which he does.

"This bitch empty...YEET!" Layla throws the weapon away from the tower making Ace's eyes widen in panic but it comes back to his hand again while she nods in astonishment at it. Suddenly, Petra walks in between them...with Mara Sov without her helmet beside her.

"Ace? Layla? This is Queen Mara Sov...and she might like to have a word with you two."

* * *

 **If anyone is gonna ask, yes, that was Rumble McSkirmish from Gravity Falls and the Laser Puppies from Star Vs The Forces Of Evil. This story is the first of a trilogy and these two are teasers for what's to come. Please leave a review.**


End file.
